


A Beggers Tale

by Teaj



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:49:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28294104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teaj/pseuds/Teaj
Summary: Link is fetching Talon (for about the 100th time) when he meets an old begger man in Castle Town and decides to buy the old man lunch.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	A Beggers Tale

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a conversation in the Linked Universe discord, although it is not directly connected to that AU. Unless you count Link being married to Malon, I suppose.

Link sighed as he entered Castle Town for the third time that week. He liked the town, to be sure, it was lively and happy, just like in his childhood, it was nice to see as an adult. But honestly, it seemed every time Talon came to make a delivery Malon would end up having to send Link after him. He had a cucoo just to wake the old man. It seemed to Link that it would make more sense just to send him in the first place. Well, it didn’t matter, Link knew where to find him so this would be quick. Thankfully this time it wasn’t the palace, at least.

Less than half an hour later, Link was standing next to an embarrassed Talon. The hero just sighed while Talon sputtered out and excuse, Link shoved the cucoo into Talon’s hands and directed the man to the entrance of the town. “I’ll be home when she’s done giving you an earful,” Link said, before walking away. He heard Talon running as he did so. Link decided he’d wonder Castle Town for a bit, have some lunch, maybe find something nice for Malon while he was here.

Link walked around the fountain, looking at the stalls set up around the main square without getting too close to the crowds for now, when he spotted an old begger man sitting on a ragged cloth and asking those that passed for any food or rupees they could spare. Just about everyone was ignoring the old man, and those that did give him rupees largely did so without looking at him. Link frowned, the way people were treated when they were down on their luck was so unfortunate. He decided to help in so far as he could he approached the man and asked, “can I buy you lunch?”

\------

A few minutes later Link was sitting with the old begger away from the noise that was the main square. They hadn’t gone far, as the begger had a rather bad limp, and walking seemed painful for him even with the cane he had.

The begger had thanked Link a dozen times for the meal by the time they sat to enjoy it and was starting to thank him again when Link interrupted him and said it really was not a big deal. The old begger smiled and asked, “tell me about yourself, young man. You’ve got the look of adventure about you, you must have many stories to tell.”

Link looked at his own lunch, considering. “I just live on a ranch with my wife, not too much to tell. But you must have a story to tell. Even with your tattered clothes, you hold yourself like a soldier.”

The old man chuckled for a moment, though it quickly turned into a coughing fit. Link offered the man some water but was waved off. When he regained his composure the man answered, “I supposed I have something of a tale, if you’ve the time to listen to an old man ramble.”

Link simply nodded, and the old man began his tale.

“It was so long ago… you may not even have been born yet, or were very young, by the look of you. There was a great war raging before the King unified the land and brought peace. You’ve heard of it, yes?” Link nodded while the man coughed again before continuing.

The begger didn’t want to describe how horrible the war had been, but it had raged all over. At the time the begger had been living on a small farm with his wife and newborn son. He felt he had a duty to protect his family, so as the war raged on and the front of the battle grew ever closer to his land, the man enlisted with the Hylian army. He was no one special, just another faceless soldier. He made friends among the soldiers, only to see them die or be wounded and sent back. Every soldier there had someone to fight for, they all told stories of their families and gave one another messages should the worst happen.

The battles raged for what felt like an eternity, and the old man swore he could remember each one perfectly. The man got a far off look in his eye at the thought, and Link was about to say he didn’t need to continue if it was too painful when the man started into yet another coughing fit that snapped him back to the present. Link could tell he was in bad shape, health-wise, but the man kept waving him off when he tried to offer water or any other form of help.

“One battle happened at the canyon that separates Hyrule proper from Gerudo valley. If you’ve never seen it, it’s a strategic nightmare for war. A single bridge spans the gap, and high cliffs restrict any other access to the valley. I don’t know what our commander was hoping for, and I don’t know if he got it either. As we fought our way across the bridge I saw so many fall and hit the cliffs.” The man coughed again, briefly, “I let their fates distract me and when I had nearly made it across, my feet were swept out from under me and I was sent tumbling down. I was sure I was going to die then and there, but by some miracle of the goddesses I managed to land in the waters below.”

The man had managed to resurface when he hit the water, but the rushing water swept him out of sight of the battlefield in moments. He had been helpless against the water, and eventually, it slammed his back into a rock, knocking him out cold.

He woke up on the shore of the river where the water began to calm. At the bottom of sheer cliffs with nothing else around. His leg had been broken, “by the attack, the fall, or the river, could be any or all of them,” and he was heavily bruised. He likely had some other broken or dislodged bones, but he never found out, and his leg was the most pressing issue as he knew no help would come from him where he had ended up.

“I was almost tempted to jump back in the river and pray it would take me safely to Lake Hylia, but I felt the goddesses had blessed me enough by letting me survive that far. There wasn’t a lot around, so I used my broken spear and my shirt to splint my leg best I could,” He patted the leg he limped on now, “didn’t do the best job, I admit.”

The man did his best to survive where he was for a time, making a fishing rod out of a tree branch, a thread he pulled out of uniform, and some of the metal from his armour. Amazingly, he survived a few weeks like that as his leg slowly healed. It wasn’t back to normal when he finally decided to get out of there, but he had to leave, he was barely surviving and he needed to get back to his family, let them know he survived. “They’re the only thing that really kept me going there, I knew I couldn’t leave her to raise our son on her own.”

He followed the river, using his makeshift fishing rod as a cane. Eventually, he made it to the point where the river bank ended. “I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Lake Hylia, but if you have, you seen that waterfall?” Link nodded, it was rather tall, as he recalled, “Lucky for me there’s no rocks at the bottom! Cause I kinda forgot about it. I thought I was close to the lake so I’d just let the river carry me the rest of the way. Once the current started getting stronger and I heart the rushing water I realized my mistake, but there wasn’t really anything I could do at that point.”

The begger had managed to survive that fall without getting knocked out. He was spotted by a few Zora in the area who swam over and helped him out. At that point, the Zora and Hylians were allies, so when they saw his uniform they offered to help him out. They couldn’t help him get to their domain in his condition, and the lakeside laboratory didn’t exist then, so that help was limited. He left before long, the war was still ongoing, and the Zora could only help him so much. They gave him a proper cane and provisions, and he set off again.

It took him many days to cross Hyrule field, hobbling along on his still wounded leg. Eventually, he reached castle town. “The gates weren’t kept open during the day back then. It was hard to even get to the guardhouse beyond the gate.” Eventually, he did manage to get in and talk to an officer. At first, no one believed his story. Not that he could blame them with how impossible it sounded. It didn’t help that he had no proof of who he was. Eventually, it was decided that he was no use as a soldier with his leg anyway. He was paid, less than half of what he was owed in large part because he couldn’t prove he was actually a soldier and not just some vagabond that had taken the uniform off a corpse.

“I didn’t care at that point, I just wanted to get home. Our farm was a few days walk from Castle Town in normal circumstances, over towards that creepy forest.” He looked down, and Link could see great sadness in his eyes. “It took me over a week to arrive so a burned field and empty house, part of me wonders if I had headed there first... I searched for so long for any sign of them… I never found any bodies, at least, so I still cling to the hope that my wife managed to escape with our son.” The old man smiled at Link, “He’d be about your age now. I hope he’s as kind as you are, buying a begger lunch and taking the time to listen to an old man’s rambling.” The old begger shook his head sadly and finished his story, “My leg kept me from doing any real physical work, and since my home was destroyed anyone that might have given me easier work just thought of me as ‘that homeless guy’ so I turned to begging.”

The man began to stand, having finished his meal he said, “I should let you go, I’m sure you have a busy day ahead of you. Thank you again for the lunch, and listening to my story.”

“Before we part ways,” Link said, pulling out a blue ocarina, “Would you indulge me?” The man smiled and nodded, and Link began to play a melancholy melody, starting with three repeated notes. The Song of Healing filled the air between them as the man closed his eyes and soaked in the private performance. As the song finished Link hoped that it had helped in some way, if only to provide some relief from the cough. “I hope the rest of your day is pleasant, and I do hope to see you again.”

With a final goodbye, the pair parted ways, the old man returning to his spot and Link leaving town to head back to the Ranch. He was saddened by the old man’s story. He said he had been blessed to survive that fall, but he had clearly been suffering for a long time since then. Link wished he could help him out some way. At the very least, he decided that every time he saw the man from now on he would buy him lunch.

\---

That night, Link told Malon about his encounter, and she encouraged him to buy the man lunch and keep him company. She suggested that Link tell him about some of the more lighthearted aspects of his adventures and ask the man about his life before the war as a way to keep off heavier subjects. Unfortunately, work at the ranch was hard. As much as they both wished they could, they knew they couldn’t hire the man on as help.

Regardless, Time started seeking the man out every time he went to Castle Town. He didn’t find him every time, but he saw him often enough for it to become a routine. Link told the man about how he was friends with the Gorons, how he had met Princess Ruto, and about a few of the masks he had collected in Termina (without any other context). For his part, the man told Link about his younger years, growing up as a farm kid, meeting his wife while on a delivery trip, falling in love. It was a sweet little friendship, and every time they parted ways Link would play his ocarina. It seemed like it helped, the man coughed less while Link played, at the very least, though it was always back the next time.

Link knew the man felt guilty about always being bought lunch, and on one occasion even tried to make Link let him buy, but Link insisted that the company was more than enough for him.

One day, after a few weeks of these visits, the man began to tell Link about when his son was born. “It was the happiest day of my life, holding such a tiny bundle of joy. My wife had had a difficult time during the pregnancy, and we thought a few times she might lose the baby, but they both made it out happy and healthy. If you ever have kids, you’ll understand the overwhelming joy it brings to hold them for the first time. There’s nothing like it in the world. Our little Link brightened up our lives.”

The old man was smiling down at his hands, as though imagining a baby in them, but Link looked like he had just been punched in the gut. _What had he just said?_ _There was no way._ “What… did you just say your baby’s name was?”

The man looked up, his happy expression turning to confusion at Link’s expression. “We named him Link,” he answered.

Link opened his mouth to respond but found he had no words. How was this possible? This man couldn’t be… but if he was… how could Link tell him? If he just said ‘hey that’s my name too, and I’m an orphan to boot, I bet I’m your son’ at _best_ the man would think he was pulling a cruel joke.

The man raised an eyebrow at Link and finally the young man spoke, “Did I ever tell you about my childhood?”

“Collecting all those masks for goddesses know why?” The man responded, clearly confused as to where this was going.

“No, before that. Have you ever heard of the Kokiri and the Great Deku Tree?” Link began to tell the man about how he had grown up in the forest with children that never age, watched by a sacred guardian in the form of a tree. He described how he had come to live in the forest, carried by his wounded mother and entrusted to the Deku Tree. The man listened intently, his eyes widening when Link told him about how his mother had fled the war by entering the lost woods.

“You know, young man,” The begger said when Link finished the tale of his childhood, his voice soft and nearly breaking, “I don’t think you ever introduced yourself.”

“I’m Link.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ending it there before I make it sad again. Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
